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The Excitable, Emotional E

The excitement of expectancy reigned upon each row of countenances

The Damnation of Theron WareHarold Freder

The letter E is a singularly joyous letter that’s impossible to pronounce without a brief grin flashing across your face. Originally the hieroglyphic and Semite symbolof a man with his arms raised in rejoicing, it stakes its claim as the initial letter of enthusiasm and Eros, the Greek god of love. It also stands for Epicureanism, the philosophy that pleasure and happiness should be man's supreme goal and that emotional pleasures are far more powerful than physical ones.

Although it’s the most commonly used letter in the English language, it’s rarely used as an initial letter for people's names and thus occurs in fewer than two percent of the population. It is however more common among the British upper classes, perhaps because of its connection to the British Royal Family (Elizabeth, Earl, and Edward).

It’s possible that its infrequency is due to the fact that E names tends to be overly excitable as evidenced by the words earnest, ecstatic, eek, emotional,envious, exuberant, expressive, ego, empathetic, etc. The most famous example of the E being used to express excitement and surprise emanated from the Greek inventor Archimedes who exclaimed eureka! upon his bath-time discovery that a measure of gold displaces less water than an equal weight of silver.

The traditional meanings of names beginning with E reflect these positive emotional qualities as in: Earnest (sincere), Edward (happy guardian), Erasmus (to love), Edwin (prosperous friend), and Ezra (helper). Its enthusiastic, efficient, effective and excitable elements explain why E people are the second most likely to excel in professional sports.